Fecal Pills Boost Cancer Immunotherapy Response in 80% of Lung Cancer Patients

A new study has found that pills made from healthy donors' feces enhanced cancer treatment efficacy while reducing severe side effects of immunotherapy drugs.

According to a recent report by the New York Post, Canadian researchers announced that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapy improved immunotherapy outcomes in some cancer patients. The findings were published in the latest issue of Nature Medicine.

The Canadian study was conducted in two phases. The FMT pills used in the research, also known as "Crapsules," are freeze-dried fecal matter from healthy donors processed into capsule form.

In the first study, scientists from the London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) and Lawson Research Institute evaluated the safety of combining immunotherapy drugs with FMT pills in 20 kidney cancer patients. Analysis showed that cancer patients receiving FMT alongside immunotherapy experienced reduced severe toxic side effects, including colitis and diarrhea.

The second study was led by the Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). Researchers examined how FMT affected immunotherapy outcomes in lung cancer and melanoma patients. Among lung cancer patients who received FMT treatment, 80% responded to immunotherapy, compared to only 39-45% of those who received immunotherapy alone. Melanoma patients also showed higher response rates at 75% with FMT, versus 50-58% for immunotherapy-only groups.

"FMT appears to reduce harmful gut bacteria and restore a microbial environment that promotes anti-cancer immune responses," the researchers said. "The ability to reduce drug toxicity and improve clinical response to cancer treatment using FMT is a tremendous achievement."

The team is currently conducting additional clinical trials involving pancreatic cancer and triple-negative breast cancer patients.

While FMT therapy may seem unfamiliar, it has reportedly been performed on humans since 1958 and on animals for approximately 100 years. The treatment aims to restore gut microbiome balance.